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Not Just Phlogiston

@notphlogiston.bsky.social
1.2K followers 485 following 1.9K posts

Equity, sustainability, and inclusion in high school chemistry. K12 public school union strong. NBCT. #MTBoS. Tea, not coffee. #ChemistsWhoCook, crafting, jam.

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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 19h
I would die for the Weird Puppies at the Sacramento SPCA
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Emma Evans @trance.bsky.social · 21h
My Day of the Dead clock finally came This isn't where I'm going to keep it I don't think because it has the good life/good death wooden arch but I like it there until I can install it where I want it. I might keep it there anyway. Looooooove it The artist: www.instagram.com/gabbiecustom...
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Bobson Wong @bobsonwong.com · 19h
@NYTimes.com: There are so many issues with this article. How do you ask 37 experts how to improve schools and NOT ask a single classroom teacher? No wonder their list of ideas is so jarring to anyone who spends time in a classroom. #MTBos #edusky www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/u...
nytimes.com
30 Ideas for Fixing U.S. Schools, Ranked by Experts (Gift Article)
Math and reading scores are in a decade-long slump. We asked three dozen experts: What could turn things around?
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Headquarters @headquartersnews.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
www.politico.com/news/2026/09...
politico.com
Trump administration finalizes repeal of Biden-era Title IX rule
The rule stops short of defining “sex” in the federal education law barring sex discrimination as biological sex.
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Dr. Jeff Masters @drjeffmasters.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
AI upgrades TD Fay to a major hurricane: For our post on the action in the Pacific/Atlantic we wanted a side-by-side satellite image of both basins. To combine the two images, we instructed ChatGPT: "Combine the two satellite images into one". Lots of nice enhancements, but look what it did to Fay!
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Laura Howes @laurahowes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I think #chemsky has discussed before how NO-ONE should be feeding unpublished or proprietary data into public models. It really feels like that is worth reiterating.
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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 24/07/2026
I have previously written about one reason that billionaires find the AI story so compelling: at root, many billionaires just don't believe most other people are actually, fully real. How could they? Achieving billionairehood requires that you inflict pain on vast numbers of people. 13/
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Mindy Weisberger @laminda.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
For years, a group of scientists in Copenhagen fed their research into Anthropic's AI models to write code and draft manuscripts. @carlzimmer.com reports that among their work were findings about new enzymes—which Anthropic recently "discovered" independently, according to an announcement last week
nytimes.com
Did Anthropic’s A.I. Really Make a Scientific Discovery on Its Own? (Gift Article)
An expert at the University of Copenhagen said his team had been sharing its research with the company’s A.I. model, Claude, and that its new finding matched their work.
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Johnathan Perkins @johnathanperk.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
“Intersex” is the “I” in LGBTQIA. Learned a lot, watching this.
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Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Once again, I gotta say: you cannot treat anything you’re feeding into an AI as anonymous. There are enormous ethics implications for, e.g. referees who are clearly uploading others’ unpublished papers without consent, let alone health care professionals or law enforcement
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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 25/09/2026
I have blamed The agents That hacked Your website And which You probably Reasonably thought I controlled Forgive me I am rich And unaccustomed To taking responsibility
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ouinne @ouinne.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
ANNUAL HALLOWEEN REMINDER THAT ANYTHING WITH ACTIVATED CHARCOAL *WILL* FUCK WITH YOUR MEDICATIONS
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Not Just Phlogiston @notphlogiston.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
An Immenser World
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Anthony (Tony) J. Martin @ichnologist.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Pleased to see I've gained a few more followers through my inclusion in a Bluesky starter pack, 'Scientists Who Write Science Books.' For my followers, check out this list & find your favorite scientist authors who you might not have known are here! go.bsky.app/2LmKSDN
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 27/09/2026
I’ll just add to Sheryl‘s important point a mantra that I learned from my lawyer spouse: the law is what the people in power say it is — and in the cases under debate “the people in power” are judges. You/Mamdani/et al can argue what you want; what matters is how judges will rule. See: SCOTUS
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Joyce White Vance @joycewhitevance.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
No. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
washingtonpost.com
Trump administration considers building baseball park in Grand Teton National Park
Major League Baseball contacted the administration about hosting a game in a national park, with an agency official scouting Grand Teton as a possible location.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
At first you think they’re just hyping Judy up with that “beast mode”. Then you see her lifts and realize they’re underselling it. Small, thick, and mighty for the win, every time.
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Physgal ⚛️ @physgal.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Great LIDAR application example. 🎢
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Amy Westervelt @amywestervelt.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
We gotta start referring to data centers by both their mother and father's last names, Spain style. The Microsoft-Chevron data center, the Meta-ExxonMobil data center, and so forth. Absolutely no reason just the tech bros should be taking the heat on this shit
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Ruth Zakarin @ruthz.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Raise your boys to be the ones who yell absofuckingloutely not when they see a man spike a woman’s drink. Tell them about what happened at Cornell and their job is to disrupt the group chat and call the police. Teach them that this is what being a man looks like.
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Dr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️ @napaaqtuk.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This is a wild ride for the bad interview discourse today. Read to the end, whew.
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Eleanor Morton @eleanormorton.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Myth busting about Scotland's 'need' for data centres feat. angry moorhen (Follow us on insta at stopaidatacentres.scot)
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 26/09/2026
Does my Speak-n-Spell feel pain when I type O-U-C-H? The jury is out. Philosophers and neuroscientists say that's fucking stupid, but I called a guy from the Center for Pretending that Household Electronics Are Sentient and he said there's no way to know for sure.
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drmag00 @drmag00.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
TFW the website lists your course as starting at 7 AM and the receipt shows it starting at 9, so you’re way too early and have time to kill, so you go to the October Cafe and get a hot chocolate that looks like this.
A mug with eyes and glasses, meant to look like a ghost, with a mound of whipped cream and chocolate on top. It’s sitting on a pumpkin-themed tablecloth.
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Cara Jackson @carajackson.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
"With the Education Department, OpenAI’s technology tried to hack the website to gather data from the department’s civil rights office" 👀 www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/t...
nytimes.com
OpenAI’s A.I. Went Rogue and Meddled With U.S. Government Websites (Gift Article)
The company did not learn until recently that its technology had meddled with websites for the Education and Commerce Departments and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Eugene Vinitsky 🍒 @eugenevinitsky.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
A rich person can never be held accountable. Therefore, a rich person must never make a societal decision
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Artologica aka Michele Banks @artologica.net · 25/09/2026
Tell the world how you feel about AI. Original watercolors, hand-painted and unique. They don't scale. They don't make "economic sense." Whatever artologica.etsy.com
purple watercolor with salt effect 
NO AI ONLY BRAIN in black text blue watercolor with brain image
NO AI ONLY BRAIN in black text
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Annie loves Mpls @anniekp.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Win these mittens! To enter you can do any of these 1. Donate any amount to any candidate named on @yallvote. Every $5 donated is an entry 2. Participate in any get out the vote or voter registration effort. Every event is 20 entries.
Mitten in rainbow yarn and white. Pattern shows a middle finger Same rainbow and white yarn. Text on the mitten reads we the people
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
We’ve been in a constitutional crisis since Jan. 20, 2025 and a blue wave in November won’t fix it if Trump can just ignore legislation passed by Congress.
cbsnews.com
Trump cancels nearly $1 billion in spending approved by Congress, a move some lawmakers called illegal
President Trump moved to cancel almost $1 billion in spending that was approved by Congress, marking the second time his administration has employed a rarely used tactic that some lawmakers in both pa...
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ClutchScience (Jen Phillips) @clutchscience.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Alt text
A cartoon in which the letters of the word “Democracy” are written on individual cards. All but three are lying on the ground while the letters “C” “R” and “Y” are being held by the three liberal Supreme Court justices (wearing robes)
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Maryn McKenna @marynmck.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
If you were transfixed by THE HOT ZONE when you were young, or then read SPILLOVER and trusted it, then as a career scary diseases reporter, I urge you to read this thread. Science moves on. People discover fresh stuff. The work careers were built on becomes outdated. Be open to the new. Please.
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Maryn McKenna @marynmck.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Fake. USDA. Seals. Used by an NC meat processing plant on 83.5 TONS of meat. Produced entirely outside the federal inspection system, according to news reports. We are pretty close to The Jungle (second ed.) now, no? www.scrippsnews.com/life/recalls...
scrippsnews.com
Interactive: Meat recall linked to fake USDA labels
Pork, beef and goat products are being recalled after a company allegedly used fake USDA inspection labels. Explore our interactive guide to see which products are affected and what to look for.
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Dr. Robin Bond, biogeochemist at a PUI 🧪 @diygeochemist.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Hey #ChemSky and other environmental types: I'm looking for a few papers to read in the seminars we do in my Environmental Chemistry class. I have the aqueous environment pretty well covered, but I could use more suggestions for atmospheric papers.
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
If you care about keeping the Academy of Natural Sciences open to the public in Philadelphia, I need you to read and share this thread. Trish Wellenbach was sent from the mayor's office to oversee the Academy of Natural sciences situation. She needs to hear from us. Here comes the action item:
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🌬Breeze @cool-summer-breeze.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This is the Stolen Neighbors Quilt. Each of the 11,000 squares represents a person taken by ICE in Minnesota.
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C.H. Romatowski @romatowski.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Finally someone in the Democratic Party has started listening to you!
Facebook post from Ro Khanna • 
12h •
Five things Democrats will do in January when we win back the House:
✅ Increase the minimum wage
✅ Pass paid family leave
✅ End the war in Iran
✅ Hold a vote on Medicare for All
✅ Tax the billionaires
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 24/09/2026
Never been to the opera before? Now’s your chance. We’re giving away 70,000 free tickets to the @metopera at the iconic Lincoln Center. Go to on.nyc.gov/opera to enter the lottery. There’s not a bad seat in the house.
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Erin Maye Quade @erinmayequade.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
If folks in the Democratic party cannot find it within themselves to be absolute staunch supporters of trans people's rights because trans people are people who have inherent worth, then they should at least do it because if we give up on trans people, then we're literally giving up on democracy.
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Bart⚓️ @bartgonnissen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Facial Expressions of Tethys by artist Julius von Bismarck. A suspended high-sea buoy that moves in real time. Sensors on a twin buoy out in the Atlantic Ocean send live satellite data to motors inside the museum. This makes the indoor buoy copy the exact, real-time movements of the ocean waves.
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 24/09/2026
💯
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Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
AP Stylebook warns against anthropomorphizing AI systems: “Avoid language that gives them human characteristics… Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.”
APStylebook @APStylebook
X.com
Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics. This is called anthropomorphizing, when we ascribe human traits, emotions or behaviors to non-human things, such as animals or inanimate objects.
Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.
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Mannie T'Chawi … (the “T” is silent) @mannietchawi.com · 23/09/2026
This story is a great example of when @prisonculture.bsky.social speaks on picking something to focus on, organize around it, and keep at it! You don’t have to do it all, but what you do, could make all the difference.
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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Child: This is my first time meeting a mayor. Mamdani: Wow, have you ever met a prime minister? Child: No Norway PM Jonas Gahr Støre: *walks over*
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Jay Edidin @edidin.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
One of my favorite cases of someone being Wrong on the Internet was a very earnest, very confused vegan who was telling people how cruel honey is; and it eventually turned out they thought honey was made by putting bees in a centrifuge and spinning them around until they threw up.
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John Timmer @jtimmer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Ok, this "there are two separate brains" thing appears to be making the rounds, and I want to be absolutely clear: this is a press office overhyping some perfectly reasonable science that won't come as a surprise to most developmental biologists.
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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 22/09/2026
hey virginians did you know you get to vote to remove a BAN on same-sex marriage from the state constitution and protect people if the 6 robed freaks overturn obergefell? www.vpm.org/news/2026-08...
screenshot

VPM News
Voters will decide whether to enshrine marriage equality in Virginia
VPM | By Jahd Khalil and Adrienne Hoar McGibbon
Published August 24, 2026 at 5:00 AM EDT
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Michael Utz @theutz.com · 22/09/2026
LLM's don't hallucinate, they generate errors. But they are unusually good at making humans hallucinate. We imagine the LLM like the Velveteen Rabbit that just needs a little love to come alive. A nice story. Not a good basis for policy. pluralistic.net/2026/09/21/s... @doctorow.pluralistic.net
pluralistic.net
Pluralistic: The Claude Delusion (21 Sep 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
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Elephant Mastodon @emath.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Literary fiction is coming. It is going to revolutionize the economy. We know that China has already got a start on literary fiction. We can’t afford to be left out of the literary fiction economy. Think of your kids. They might already be engaging with literary fiction.
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